Despite the complaints, Structurlam says it has been addressing the sawdust issue from its operations in town.
An Oliver business owner believes the Town is dragging its feet in getting a local company to clean up its act, literally.
Jim Ruhland from the Firehall Brewery says he has waited three years for Structurlam Products to resolve concerns relating to its sawdust emissions and invasive noise in the community. He claims these problems have led to environmental issues, fire hazards, food safety and WorkSafe issues for his employees.
“Everybody is tip-toeing around letting this happen . . . I think I’ve been patient long enough,” Ruhland said.
The president of Wine Country Welcome Centre Inc. isn’t alone in these concerns. Both Dean Malmberg from Argon Electric and Hart Buckendahl from Ellcar Construction have voiced similar woes.
Ruhland said the Town of Oliver granted Structurlam permission to operate on Coop Avenue, but is not enforcing any compliance rules.
However, Structurlam president Bill Downing noted the company’s actions to address the problem. “We are now looking at putting a baghouse in place of the cyclone that will help with both shavings and sound issues. However, there is a height issue that needs to be addressed.”
Downing said they are trying to be a good neighbour, but stated the facility is an industrial operation on an industrial site (that employs 40 people in Oliver).
“I’m afraid that Jim has never been happy with us setting up shop in Oliver. But that hasn’t stopped me or Structurlam employees from eating at the firehouse pub.”
Ruhland said he’s not trying to be malicious, and acknowledges that Structurlam is creating much-needed employment. But he believes other businesses shouldn’t have to suffer from the operation.
“They’re just doing the ‘big boys on the block’ thing and affecting everyone . . . and it’s wrong.”
Ruhland’s primary concern is food safety, noting the restaurant and brewery on Main Street are directly affected by Structurlam’s emission of resin and sawdust/wood chips.
He stated that his business must meet Interior Health requirements.
“Resolve of this food safety issue is paramount for current operations and 100 per cent impedes our ability to expand.”
Kevin Touchet, environmental health practice lead for Interior Health, said they have no record of this particular concern.
“We can’t comment specifically on the situation at the Firehall Brewery as we haven’t yet been contacted, but we can say that in general, there is minimal food safety concern when it comes to ingestion of wood dust.”
Touchet said it is expected the volume of wood dust to create a health risk in this setting would have to be quite substantial to make any food unpalatable.
“What we can say is that we expect facility operators to have filters on any given air handling system to help reduce circulation of any kinds of dust, not just wood dusts.”
Ruhland said the WorkSafe issue pertains to his employees inhaling the particles emitted from Structurlam. He noted that employees on his site have difficulty concentrating (and get headaches) due to the constant noise from the cyclone. “One (employee) quit last year due to this sound.”
Ruhland added that he can’t rent his upper floor because of the noise factor.
The other issue is transport truck traffic using his lower parking area to turn around, which has resulted in damage to his retaining wall and gates, he pointed out.
The last concern is fire safety, with Ruhland pointing to the accumulation of glue and wood chips in his boiler room fresh air intake.
“We had a small fire this past summer in the accumulated wood chips that blew onto our site.”
But Downing said Structurlam has enclosed the truck loading area because there was a problem when loading during windy conditions.
“We had an issue at the cyclone when an indicator failed and some shavings spewed out the top. We cleaned that up and went around and talked to those affected.”
Regarding fire safety, Structurlam has made all of the modifications that were requested by the Town’s building inspector, Downing said.
Rob Graham, spokesman for the Oliver Fire Department, said they haven’t been called to Structurlam for any serious fires to date. However, he did acknowledge the hazard with stored sawdust, lumber and resins on site. “If there was a fire, that would be a concern.”
But Malmberg from Argon Electric (adjacent to Structurlam) said all it would take is someone to carelessly drop a cigarette in the alley.
“Next fire season the hot ashes blowing through the air could take out the whole block.”
Malmberg said his primary concern is the buildup of sawdust that collects on rooftops and could potentially plug up plumbing stacks and back up sewers.
The businessman said he called Structurlam a couple of times regarding the “sawdust snowstorm,” but never got a response.
“Why should we sweep up their mess? If they want to be good neighbours, they have to be proactive.”
Buckendahl of Ellcar Construction also expressed concerns about the sawdust emissions, but noted that Structurlam employees have taken it upon themselves to clean up his nearby property whenever a buildup occurs.
But frankly, the sawdust is a “bloody nuisance,” he pointed out.
Buckendahl said the sawdust plugs up his air conditioning filters, which he has to clean constantly. He also explained that he would like to pave his lot, but can’t do that because the sawdust would plug up the drywell required to catch the water runoff.
Buckendahl stressed that he’s keen on maintaining jobs in Oliver, but the operation should not be a nuisance to other businesses.
“We just want them to fix the bloody problem.”
Mayor Ron Hovanes said the Town has been actively working with Structurlam to resolve these issues.
Ministry of Environment spokesman David Karn said the ministry conducted an inspection at Structurlam on December 3, noting the company was issued a warning for the non-compliances that were observed.
“On November 25 there was a plug in the cyclone that led to the unauthorized discharge of sawdust off the property,” Karn said. A device was installed to automatically shut off the blower if clogging is detected.
Diane Vaykovich, the Town’s corporate officer, said they have been meeting with Structurlam on a regular basis to address the concerns.
“With the recent discharge of sawdust the Town has imposed a fine for the impact to adjacent business owners. The Town is very concerned over the company’s inability to contain debris and noise and have outlined expectations which should remediate debris and noise concerns.”
By Lyonel Doherty
